Business | Aviation

Emirates raises fares on many routes

Travel agent says airline's price adjustment was expected as it is peak season

  • By Nadia Saleem, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 May 17, 2010
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: WAM
  • The airline sent out memos to travel agents saying it would revise fares from May 15. It did not provide details of the increase but said the change would be different across markets and routes.

Dubai: Emirates airline has raised ticket prices on multiple routes.

The airline sent out memos to travel agents saying it would revise fares from May 15. It did not provide details of the increase but said the change would be different across markets and routes.

An Emirates spokesperson said: "Like every commercially oriented business, Emirates regularly reviews its fares to reflect market dynamics, including demand."

A travel agent said the increase does not come as a surprise. "[Emirates] fares have gone up across the board. It was expected because it is peak season," Premjit, Bangara, travel manager at Sharaf Travel said.

He said the increase is in an annual occurrence and even its clients are "used to it" by now. "[Rates] not really increased too much right across the board. Routes to the Indian sub-continent saw an increase but London has ... remained the same."

What do you think of this increase? Would you pay more if you knew you were getting good service?

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Comments (11)

  1. Added 19:01 May 17, 2010

    If they put the fares up, will they have a corresponding improvement in the food that is being dished out lately? If so -great, I can eat pretty much anything, but not economy class emirates airline offerings(these days)

    locky, dubai, Afghanistan

  2. Added 17:48 May 17, 2010

    Dear Readers, An airline has the right to increase their fares, specially at peak season. This is being done by all airlines, so pointing out to only one is not right. Talking about Kingfisher, their rates are even higher than Emirates on most of the destinations. Emirates services are much much better than any airline today. Qatar airways too have high fares, please check properly.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 15:19 May 17, 2010

    Why is there an increase in ticket prices, when Emirates just recorded a $1 billion profit? They say that their break-even load is 55 to 60 percent, where as the load they get is around 78%. Then why should they increase the ticket price when they are already making such huge profits? I thought they would reduce prices since they are doing so well. Its contradictory.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Kingdom

  4. Added 12:16 May 17, 2010

    Fare !!! its not fair 2 have such high fare ..

    Farha , Dubai , United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 12:10 May 17, 2010

    Its sunshine season for all airlines. Let it be Kingfisher, Etihad , EK or TG all want to make their profits.. some airlines gives connecting better, some on board service and some boast about their fleet in hand..

    Mohammad Ali Quraishi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 11:55 May 17, 2010

    Nowadays Emirates is taking very hasty and unfriendly decisions. Earlier we could book tickets online and could collect the ticket from any Emirates center paying the same price as online price and even we could have booked ticket online using a non travelling person credit card but only the attestation was required but now, all these have been stopped. We cannot book tickets even for our family members if the credit card holder is not travelling because the attestation is not accepted and they have stopped the online booking and collection at emirates office option that means we have to pay dhs 50 extra service charge more than the online amount at the emirates office. And now the price hike. I will think twice before flying in Emirates. .

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 10:49 May 17, 2010

    Flying on Qatar is much cheaper than Emirates and you get almost as good of quality. Definitely worth a layover in Doha to get the cheaper fare. Emirates may be good, but it's not worth the extra money when you can get something of equal value for cheaper. Didn't Emirates just show a profit of $1Billion? Are the higher fares really necessary?

    Anonymous, New York, United States

  8. Added 10:39 May 17, 2010

    To me it seems to be very unfair. If an airline can fly on a reduced rate at an off peak season why can't they fly for the same rate when the volume of passengers will be high in the coming months? Definitaly there was quality in service in the beginning but for the last few years it is not at all upto the standard of an airline like Emirates, especially to the Kerala sector.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  9. Added 10:27 May 17, 2010

    I tried booking 2 tickets for my family from Delhi to Dubai by emirates, the price is 39,631, were as Kingfisher is offering 29,071. Looks like Emirates is going to loose customers to Kingfisher.

    Sanjeev Sharma, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  10. Added 08:39 May 17, 2010

    It is fair that Emirates takes the premium on its fares as they do provide a good service and have lived to the brand image. However, an average difference of Dh. 2000.00 (over other airlines) for a family of three, is not justified. I think they are making a mistake by pricing themselves so high. Eventually they may have to slice off again as other airlines may have better occupancy. I take it that Emirates is taking advantage that Cathay has done with their DXB-BOM sector, however, Kingfisher has begun operations on the same route. So they need to be watchful.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    11. View more comments

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